Mario Franchise
Super Mario Bros. 3 Was All an Act Super Mario Bros. 3 has a consistent theme to its design; the whole game looks like some kind of stage show. The very first screen begins with a curtain opening. The title seems to be hung in midair, off the backdrop because there are visible shadows coming off of the letters on to the background, which is suppose to be thin air. Platforms and blocks are bolted to the background, some platforms appear to be hanging from the roof, and moving platforms are running via machine behind a set. Whenever a level ends, the screen goes to a completely black area past a zig-zag, then stops moving. This gives it the appearance of Mario going behind a curtain. Some of the backgrounds are just a single color, like light blue for a common sky, but not all of the backgrounds are the same, and it appears the background designers needed to fake the appearance of other locations in the game. In World 6, the background is blue and white strips to give it an icy appearance, but how many times have you seen blue and white strips in the sky? The style of the entire game is very different than the previous two, as well. A lot seems to have been revamped from the ground up. This is the first Mario game to introduce costumes, such as Tanooki Suit and Frog Suit, as power ups. Its almost like Mario has to quickly change outfits, a common concept in most stage shows. Miyamoto himself has confirmed that the video game is indeed a play in early September 2015. The Mario Universe is Home to Demons Called the Shadow People Super Mario Galaxy is a vast game universe, and in the sequences where Mario is catapulted through space whizz past so fast that there's barely time to appreciate the scenery. But in one catapult sequence in Mario Galaxy II, someone with too much time on their hands relised that if you turn your POV at precisely the right time, you can catch a glimpse of some mysterious figures on the horizon. You cannot access this are of the game, and there is no way to get any closer to the figures. While at this point, we would probably just dismiss them as trees, someone examined the game data more closely. The sky texture for the level is a file called "BeyondHellValley." There is no mention within the game of any level or area called "Hell Valley"--and there isn't likely to be in a kid friendly Mario title. Since the game is set in space, the only resonable explanation is that they are the native aliens watching Mario destroying their planet. Watching...and waiting... Princess Toadstool Peach is Bowser Junior's Mother Little Bowser Jr.'s maternity seems to be a mystery among the online gamer forums — at least among those who don't immediate point to Princess Peach, who seems to be the most likely candidate. According to the Super Mario wiki, Junior is told by his father that Peach is his mother, but she is then kidnapped by "evil" Mario during Super Mario Sunshine. He later admits that she is not really his mother, but he could have been lying to protect Bowser Jr's. from the emotional blow of failing to get his mother to live with them. Luigi is Always With Mario because Mario Keeps his Strength in Check It's pretty much well known about how Luigi is cowardly, and he lives in his brother's shadow due to his low self esteem and cowardly nature. Though, if you look at his role in the games, you see that he is more powerful and dangerous than we initially believe, and he only has one fear. In Super Paper Mario it is implied that Luigi is the reincarnation of Count Bleck's Great Grandfather, and thus the perfect host for the Chaos Heart, an artifact that was capable of destroying every world in existence. In Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door, Luigi had a side story that carved a path of destruction across the kingdom he was adventuring in. In Dream Team, we see that Luigi is the only person capable of creating a way to the dream world. The list of powers Luigi has keeps going, and we still don't know if that is everything he has.In Mario and Luigi: Partners in time, we can see he has a huge heart that cares for others due to the Aurora Block, a block that grows proportional a person's heart, growing large enough to crush Luigi. From the hint of the Aurora block, I believe that Luigi's only fear is that he may go too far one day and hurt people on accident due to his powers running rampant. A common trait we see is his extreme fear of ghosts. The reason behind that is because ghosts have been known to have the ability to possess living beings (Cackletta once possessed Bowser in Superstar Saga) and if one possessed him, the damage could be catastrophic. By staying close to his brother, he doesn't have to worry about hurting people because he knows that Mario is the most skilled fighter in existence and the only person who can stop him. Mario is the polar opposite of Luigi: a mortal man without any notable powers. Despite that, Mario is capable of fighting against villains capable of destroying dimensions, and even defeating Luigi himself several times (Super Paper Mario) using nothing but his sheer battle skill. By staying next to his brother, Luigi can make sure that if one of his many odd powers goes out of control, or he turns evil, Mario will be close enough to stop him and limit the damage. Also, the year of Luigi, where Luigi had his own adventures without his brother and are wondering how this ties in with this theory, there is a simple answer. Before the year of Luigi, Luigi saved Mario 2 times, (Mario is Missing, Luigi's Mansion) and at the beginning of the year of Luigi, he saved Mario one more time (Dark Moon). This is important because it is Luigi having a quest where he didn't have substantial casualties and none of his powers went out of control. The Wii U game of Luigi is Mario's test for Luigi on whether or not Luigi was worthy to step out of Mario's shadow and become his own man. The Wii U game never explicitly states why Mario is gone, but here is another theory I believe in: Mario is in the game, but we never see him. Mario is following Luigi to keep an eye on him behind the starting point of each stage. The test is perfect because they are fighting the Bowser Family, a family the two of them have been defeating for decades. They are a threat where Luigi has to give his best, but not strong enough to force Luigi to use his powers. If Luigi used his powers, then he fails the test, and is forced back into Mario's shadow while Mario finishes the quest alone. If Luigi can save the princess without losing control, then he is finally given permission to leave Mario's shadow and become his own man. TL;DR Luigi is afraid of hurting people due to his many strange powers, and stays nearby Mario to make sure Mario minimizes damages he causes. The Whole Series is Just Princess Toadstool Peach's Propaganda Mario and his friends are just puppets and Princess Peach is the puppet master. According to one Reddit user: However, have you ever asked yourself why we're being shown a Princess Peach Point of View of our favorite game? We always believed that Peach was telling the truth, and that she was the victim and Bowser was the villain...What if Princess Peach is really just using the Mario Games (which are plays) as propaganda to lead you to believe that Bowser is the villain, when in reality Peach is an evil dictator who wants to oppress the people of the Mushroom Kingdom. The post explains that gamers are never shown Bowser's point of view in the games and therefore are never given a complete picture of the politics of the Mushroom Kingdom. For all we know, Princess Peach could be manipulating Mario into thinking she is kidnapped to feed into her master plan. Pretty dark. Super Mario Bros. is the Only Time Bowser Truly Kidnapped Princess Toadstool Peach Working under the assumption that Super Mario Bros. is real and not a play, the original game is the only actual time Bowser kidnapped Peach "in real life." A user on Reddit explains that Super Mario Bros. 2 is actually a dream sequence, and therefore has "no bearing in the 'real' world." And Super Mario Bros. 3 was a "play retelling (with embellishments) the events of Super Mario Bros. 1." The user also goes into other games in the franchise: * Mario World: "Peach finally leaves Mario for Bowser, no kidnapping actually happens." * Super Mario Land: "Mario briefly moves to a nearby kingdom and attempts to romance Daisy." * Mario 64: "Peach decides to give Mario one last chance to get it right. She sends Mario a letter asking him to come and get her, maybe a little white lie about kidnapping since she knows that's Mario's rage trigger." * Mario Sunshine: "Peach's reconciliation with Mario went badly and she reconnected with Bowser." * Mario Galaxy: "Mario has moved on from Peach. To Rosalina." Mario Only Ever Went to the Mushroom Kingdom One Time: All the Other Times Was Just Him Reliving His Previous Glory Alright, I am sure that someone might have posted something like this before, but I thought it would be interesting. So Mario has an adventure and rescues a young Princess in a magical land. This is the first game in the Mario world. And it actually happened. An unsuspecting plumber finds himself in a magical adventure where he rescues a princess from a magical land. But then he returns to the real world and milks it for all it is worth. First, he dreams about it constantly (Super Mario Bros. 2, even if it is not canon). Eventually he decides to make it into a play (Super Mario Bros. 3). The initial success of this encourages Mario to turn himself into a brand. He follows the show with two sequels in which, rather than staying in the Mushroom Kingdom, he moves to unique and exotic private islands (Super Mario World and Super Mario Sunshine). He even creates a reality T.V. show in which Mario plays "The Real World" by living in a single location (Peach's Castle) and hiring goons to play the different monsters from his memory from his first foray into a magical world (Mario 64). This also explains the spin-offs. Mario is a hero because he was just a normal, middle-aged construction worker who always seems to come up big. He even saved a woman who was kidnapped by a wild ape at a construction site! He is asked to host all sorts of events and milks his fame for all it is worth. He even opens up go-kart tracks based on the worlds he venture into once, long ago. The irony comes when Rosalina, a real cosmic being, sees this hero of earth and decides to enlist him on a magical quest to save the galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy). This is just like Galaxy Quest. But with great assistance from magical cosmic creatures, he actually saves the day. This all fits because everything gets bigger and better than the original game because Mario is telling everyone about it. Princess Toadstool was not a buxom blonde, she was a short toadstool-like creature! But Mario dreamed about a hot blonde (SMB2) and made it so. And Koopa was not large, fat, slovenly creature, but Mario made the decision to make Mario seem more heoric. The original King Koopa was a vicious axe-wielding maniac, who Mario only defeated by outsmarting him and unhooking his bridge. All of Mario 64 is staged with actors, so it looks better, just like the previous plays and movies at different locations. So when playing Mario 64, imagine that all the characters interact like they are just actors in costumes. Even bowser is somewhat pathetic. It is all marketing. Mario makes a children's book (Yoshi's Island) and a RPG (Super Mario RPG) to get kids interested in his stories. It is targeted to get them interested in the brand. TL;DR: Mario had ONE adventure and he is embellishing and milking it for all it is worth to cash in. Donkey Kong Killed Mario's and Luigi's Father OK, this just might be the nerdiest thing I've ever typed but I just gotta get it out. While bored today, I started thinking about how the Mario games connect with each other. Obviously these are games that are not really made with continuity in mind, and only really focus on a complicated plot in rare occasions. But I was looking into it today and I think I've made a few revelations about the universe of everybody's favorite Italian plumber. I know these fan theories often have holes in them, and I'm sure mine will have some too so feel free to point them out but I'll present my argument by bolding everything that I've found to be fact in the Mario universe and elaborating on these facts with analysis and sources. Mario and Donkey Kong are the Same Age Seen in "Yoshi's Island DS", the Yoshi's get help from many different babies to save Baby Luigi in a prequel to the main Mario games. These babies include Peach, Wario, Bowser, Mario, and DK, making them all around the same age. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshi's_Island_DS#Plot If we know this to be true, it would be impossible for adult Mario to share a game with Donkey Kong Jr. outside of Kart and Sport games, which often have baby versions of characters. But if this is true, then how does the game "Donkey Kong Junior" work? Known as the only game where Mario is the antagonist, whipping Cranky Kong in a cage while DK climbs to save him, it features a fully mustached Mario with a very young Donkey Kong. There could really only be one explanation for this. The Mario from the Donkey Kong Arcade Games is NOT the Same Mario from the Main Series It actually makes a lot of sense. Mario is a plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom and loves Princess Peach while Jumpman is a carpenter who lives in New York and loves his girlfriend Pauline. So either Mario made a TON of dramatic life changing choices after Donkey Kong Jr. or, more simply, they are not the same person. We are also to assume that is would be impossible for the Pauline of the "Mario VS. Donkey Kong" games to be the same Pauline of the Donkey Kong arcade game, due to the fact that Pauline would have to age the same as Cranky Kong, making her elderly. This explanation is also a little nicer when you think about it. Jumpman is triumphant in winning Pauline's heart at the end of Donkey Kong, while Mario is innocent of evil crimes that Jumpman committed in Donkey Kong Jr. This is where more theory comes in. If Jumpman and Mario are not the same person, do they have a relationship? Well, at the end of Yoshi's Island, it is shown that Mario and Luigi have two parents. While a good look is never given for these two figures, they could very possibly be Jumpman and Pauline. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiiMtfnVhcQ So Mario and Donkey Kong have parents who we've met before, and Donkey Kong has even shared a game with Mario's possible father! That's pretty nice, right? Well... not for everybody, especially Miyamoto who disproved it. The antagonist at the end of the Donkey Kong Arcade Game Dies at the End of the Game OK, hear me out. In Donkey Kong, after getting hit with an obstacle on your way to the top, you do a couple spins and finally fall to the ground with a halo around your head. You died. You have lives that could bring you back to life, but in that instance you did die. Now, when you beat Donkey Kong (or Donkey Kong 3) Cranky falls to the ground, hits his head, and looks very dizzy. As we know, he also returns in more games well into his old age. This is the end of Donkey Kong Junior: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVAtTPrwOGc Jumpman falls to the ground and lies down with a halo floating above his head. He's dead. As the antagonist of the game, he has no extra lives. Because it's impossible for this to be the Mario of games separate from the DK arcade games, he has never come back in a story that takes place after this. Even Donkey Kong 3, which takes place right after DKJ, doesn't feature him. TL;DR: Donkey Kong kills Jumpman, who may in fact be Mario & Luigi's father. Dr. Mario is the Third Mario Brother Mario has had plenty of odd jobs over the years, but something seems a little bit off about Doctor Mario from the Super Smash Bros. game. The Reddit user who introduced this theory wrote, "He has a similar moveset to Mario and Luigi, and while Luigi is a lighter and floatier comparison to Mario, DM is a heavier, harder hitting alternative. Doctor Mario's hair is also lighter than Mario's, taking an almost blonder or more auburn tint to the plumber's dark brown hair. Mario also seems to be more athletic than DM as he is faster and can wall jump, whereas the doctor can not." It seems easy to believe that perhaps there are several Mario brothers, in several sizes, floating out there. The Coins Are Souls Get ready for the most existential gameplay you've ever experienced. It turns out, every time you hit, smash, burn or generally destroy and object or enemy and you get a coin in return, what you're actually getting is that thing's soul. A user on Reddit wrote: The instruction manual for Mario Bros. 1 states the the inhabitants of Kingdom were turned into bricks (yes, the exact same ones that Mario smashed on his journey). If the bricks are Kingdom residents, then how are there coins inside them. What if Mario was actually harvesting the souls of innocent toads? The theory goes into great detail on the many different and twisted ways Mario can harvest the souls of the dead for his profit. Wario is a Crazed Mario Fan Wario isn't such a bad guy. He just doesn't know how to process all these feelings of respect and admiration. Some evidence of Wario's devotion to Mario include: * Mario is established as incredibly famous. When he meets characters, they always say how glad they are to meet a celeb like him. * Wario's outfit is the a superfan equivalent of Mario's: overalls, white gloves, mustache and a cap with an upside down "M" (or "W," however you want to spin it). * Wario has starred in his own Mario-like games. He's practically copying him. * In Super Mario Land 2, Wario lives in a castle with a statue of Mario in front. Of course, it's revealed that this place used to be Mario's own castle, but still, Wario doesn't seem to mind keeping it in tact. If that isn't love, we don't know what is. More details about Wario's deep obsession with Mario can be found here. Star Fragments Star Fragments in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks share a similar name and appearance with Star Bits from Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, and may have been inspired by them. They are also possible inspirations to Gratitude Crystals from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Bowser Is Not Evil Bowser could actually not be the villain, instead, it may be Kamek. Bowser was a human, and good friend of Peach when they were very little, (about 3 or 4), and Kamek was getting old so he needed someone strong to help him, so he stole Bowser. Kamek used his magic to turn Bowser into a koopa, which made it impossible to return to the Mushroom Kingdom. Kamek tried to get Bowser to help him take over the Mushroom Kingdom, but Bowser said he would not do it, Peach was over there. Kamek then came up with a plan, he would have Bowser capture Peach, while Kamek tried to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. When he captured Peach, he tried to convince her that he was Bowser, and that he used to be her best friend, she never believed him. He did this for years, Yoshi was always able to get her back, and when Mario became old enough to rescue her, he formed this new hatred towards the red hero. As Bowser grew up, he started to show affection for Peach, and he stared to capture her for love reasons. Then Bowser Jr. came, he along with the seven Koopalings because Bowser always wanted to have children of his own. He raised them how Kamek did, self-centered and mean. One Night Bowser went to go visit Kamek to see how he was doing, and he overheard Kamek whispering to himself that if Bowser ever married Peach, he could turn back into a human. That is why Bowser attepted to marry Peach in Super Mario Odyssey.Category:Video Games Category:Mario